The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Thursday directed the NCLT Ahmedabad Bench to take a decision on the ₹42,000-crore resolution plan submitted by ArcelorMittal for debt-ridden Essar Steel by 8 March.
A two-member NCLAT bench, headed by Justice S J Mukhopadhaya, said if the Ahmedabad Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) failed to pass an order by this deadline, it would call records and pass an order.
“Adjudicating authority (NCLT) has to pass final order by March 8, failing which this appellate tribunal may call all records, including resolution plan approved by the Committee of Creditors (CoC),” according to NCLAT.
The appellate tribunal directed to list the matter for next hearing on 13 March.
It also directed the NCLT registry to communicate this order to the Ahmedabad-based bench and its members.
The NCLAT directive came while the tribunal was hearing an application filed by ArcelorMittal, whose ₹42,000-crore takeover proposal for Essar Steel had been approved by the CoC, and was pending before the NCLT for approval.
Earlier, on 29 January, NCLT Ahmedabad rejected the debt settlement proposal put forth by the shareholders of Essar Steel, and said the offer violated Section 12A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).
The NCLT had said that the ₹54,389-crore offer by Essar Steel Asia Holding, much higher than ArcelorMittal’s ₹42,000-crore bid, was not maintainable as the only way to make a proposal is through Section 12A.
Essar Steel owns a 10-million-tonne steel mill in Gujarat.
Source: Mint